THE NEW GIRL
*beep beep beep*
the alarm buzzed as Mikan was searching for its snooze button
" WHAAAAAT? 8 am? Im already late!"
Mikan then hurriedly went to the bathroom to get a quick bath. She then grabbed an apple she got last night for a quick breakfast.
She ran the usual corridors thinking "uh I bet Jinno senseis gonna kill me because Im late"
She's now 2 classrooms away from their room -she stopped suddenly and walked in tiptoe, as a desperate attempt to get inside the classroom without the teacher knowing.
when Mikan reached the door she took a small peak and saw Jinno sensei talking to class. He looked serious and everyone was looking at him attentively.
"eh? what could Jinno sensei be saying? I bet its a serious announcement..." "now i wouldn't be able to go in without them noticing"
Mikan was lost in thoughts for possible punishment odds when a student bumped into her while sprinting. "gome!" shouted the student. Mikan made her usual angry face and shouted " you! come back here!" without even realizing that she's inside the classroom, and not only that, she's at her most awkward position since her skirt-less episode the first time she met natsume.
Butt on the floor with everyone laughing at her. Jinno sensei's at his dissappointed mode.
"oh look who's here, the usual problematic student. A bad example for all" Jinno sensei uttered as he was adjusting his glasses
" miss luna, don't go talking to this girl, your path is better off without crossing with this one"
Jinno sensei was talking to a student that Mikan hasn't seen yet. Her skin is as white as porcelain, her hair- black as that of crow's feathers and her lips-small and pink. "she looks so pretty, she looks so perfect..." mikan thought to herself.
"Oi! baka, you're drooling, stop staring at her, you look like a perverted maniac" shouted Kokoro.
"eh? whaaat?, No No its not what you think"
Mikan was desperately waving her hand as if to explain herself, everyone was laughing again and she let down a heavy sigh. " gomenasai sensei" mikan said while bowing her head.
" I expect nothing short of dissappointment from you, expect some serious detention this week!"
Mikan had no time to react and just obligely said "hai"
She sat down at her usual seat beside natsume and ruka ,
"ohayou ruka, natsume" mikan said cheerfully.
" you shouldn't have come to school ugly" natsume uttered
"eh? you demon!" hmp! mikan thought , "pissing me off this early in the morning"
"ohayou sakura!" ruka pyon said " ruka pyon!" mikan said while smiling. She then put her tongue out at natsume . natsume just smirked
"so Guys, you be good to Ms koizumi luna, She is a very important part of this university, Miss luna, choose your seat, where would you be most comfortable?"
Luna just smiled at Jinno and walked slowly towards Mikans row,
" Natsume, I want to sit with you" Luna said , casually while smiling shyly.
The entire class got shocked, literally.
"can't you see the I already have seatmates?' natsume said without looking at her
"but... Jinno sensei, Im most comfortable here" Luna said while turning her head to face Jinno
"hmm whats so big of a deal, so sakura, get out of there and sit beside Sumire" said Jinno
Mikan didn't want to leave her seat, a part of her is still expecting for natsume to say something
and he did, a few seconds later " you heard him ugly,scoof"
Mikan was appalled, for a second there she couldn't move.
Luna then grabbed her arm which made her stand up, "thank's for giving up your seat"
luna then smiled a peculiar smile which raised everyone's brows.
Hotaru was grabbing her deer hoofs when Mikan suddenly broke the tight mood
" ahh hhaha sorry I didn't move, Nice meeting you luna san" and she then went to her new seat.
EMPTY CLASSROOMS
the day went on as usual, except that there were lesser fights between natsume and mikan
at recess, everyone was talking about the new girl
"that bitch is getting on my nerves, spoiled brat grrrrrr she's a try hard. She wants to get everything'
"I heard she's the elementary school principal's favorite niece"
"ahhh, thats probably why she's spoiled like that"
conversations went on and Mikan didn't care a bit, she was staying at the chair beside the window lost in sigh, she can't get over the fact that natsume just let her get bullied like that.
" what are you looking at the window silly?" hotaru asked while munching some watermelons
"eh? hehe nothing hotaru", "i'm just looking outside" mikan said with her usual smile
" whatever" hotaru said, while clearly knowing deep inside that somethings wrong.
The bell rang, A signal for the day's end, everyone was running towards the door.
Mikan was arranging her books when she noticed that natsume and luna was still at their seat.
Mikan decided to go to natsume and asked "oi natsume, the gang is going to play dodgeball, wanna come?"
(what a fail? dodgeball really? why am i making false things anyway. Why am I so desperate. Whats wrong with me)
natsume just looked into her with his usual smirk and said "barely a day passed, and you're missing me already"
"No Im not!" protested Mikan , she was blabbering about how bossy natsume is when suddenly
"I can't. we have plans after school" natsume said as he grabbed Luna's arm.
The two went out and Mikan got left
The room was never lonely and empty for her, not until now
weeds and flowers.
Mikan was submerged in her thoughts while walking through the now empty corridors. she was passing through the bridge when she saw natsume and luna on the grounds. walking . She stared into them, wondering, whats gotten into me? GRR, Mikan then shook her head, "Why would I care" "they look good anyways, both arrogants and brats"
The week went on with the same usual happenings,Luna and natsume's escapades became more frequent, talks have even gone out that they are already in a time Mikan didn't even bother to ask natsume, even when there's a real plan for the gang to go out
Before the weekend , the usual gang was in the classroom, all were excited because they were planning to go to central town.
"yosh!" mikan exclaimed excitedly.
"how bout natsume and luna?will we invite them?" said Hoshio
"hmm i guess its okay, but we should ask mikan though, is it okay with you mikan? " asked ANNA
"eh... why should I be not.." Mikan said when Jinno interrupted her .
"sakura come over by my office"
"oh great my detention!"
"later guys!" mikan said as she followed Jinno sensei to the faculty room
" You'll do your detention now, go to the abandoned back gardens, pull out the weeds and scrub the marbles. Make sure that you finish by 8 pm because beyond that, the pave towards the backgarden disappears. and you'll have no way to go home"
"Come on now Jinno sensei, isn't that too much of a punishment? what if Mikan loses her track with time and she goes beyond 8pm? No one has ever found the way towards the backgarden eversince!" said Narumi
"which makes it a perfect way for this girl to learn the value of time"
"but jinno," narumi protested
"my decision's final, so you better go start cleaning problem child"
" no worries narumi sensei, jinno sensei, I will surely go back before time!" mikan exclaimed as she hurriedly left
Mikan then went back to the classroom when suddenly Kokoro said "oi mikan! guess what? natsume and luna is coming with us to central town!"
" Thats good! (clearly no) too bad I couldn't though, I have to pay off my detention with jinno sensei , so you guys have a good time. Im just gonna grab my bag" Mikan then went out of the room without waiting for the others' reply.
THE BACK GARDENS
The back garden isnt that bad. Its just that there are a lot of weeds and the statues and marbles need cleaning. The back garden was one of the first parts of the university. It was once a beautiful hangout place beside the river but the fight that broke out 10 years ago made it deserted . Its not really a no entry area, its just that no one dares to go there. Gossip has it that there are scary insects,poisonous plants and ghosts residing on the area; and not only that, the backgarden literally goes off from the map after exactly 8 pm.
"ill do the best that I could so that I could finish this by 8pm!"
Mikan was her usual optimistic self. she started to gnaw out the weeds that sorrounded the gazebo area, she trimmed off the grasses and flattened the usual paveway towards the river. It was already almost 6pm when she got finished flattening off the grass road. she then saw the crystal river-a wonder that no one has seen in years. The river lived up to its name- the water was crystal clear and it reflected the sun that is now slowly going to a set. Mikan then decided to rest for a while, she sat on the grass , contemplating "how i wish everyone was here to see the view" she was marveling the beauty of the sunset while imagining the fun it would be if she had her friends with her. then suddenly, the thought of natsume and luna flashed through her head.
she then lay down on the grass , looked into the sky " am i jeal.."
she then dozed off without even finishing her question.
Mikan woke up with the feel of water flowing on her skin. She opened her eyes slowly and rain were dropping from above. She was still out of her mind when she realized that its already dark. "what?" Mikan anxiously stood up. Her uniform is soaking wet. How impossible! I couldn't have slept? Mikan then surveyed the area, everythings wet, good thing there were lamp posts or else everything could have been sorrounded by darkness.
she went to the gazebo to check the time on her phone. "oh my, its already 8:30! oh no .." Mikan dropped to her knees, "why am I always a dissappointment"
she sighed, " and furthermore, why am I always in a scary situation!" (imagine mikan's funny crying face here)
she then untied her ponytails, which released her golden locks which became dark because of the rain.
"great, and now Im staying here until morning!"
she then sat by one of the gazebo stairs. hugging her knees for warmth.
"the rain's stopping" mikan said while she was staring at the dark clouds
"i wonder if everyone's looking for me"...
Meanwhile-
"I wonder whats Mikan's punishment is this time" muttered Kokoro
"poor mikan, I bet Jinno gave her a hard time, he really has nerves for that girl"- said someone from the group
" it really makes me sad that Mikan's not here. She 's really idiotic at times but Everything's a lot fun with her around"
"how bout you natsume , don't you miss mikan?"
" neh I bet he doesnt, after all, he has the most beautiful girl on campus by his side"
"speaking of girls, where are they? its been 30 minutes and they're still not here"
"they said they are going to a certain shop to buy something for sakura when we get home"
"Oi I have somewhere to go to. Ja!" natsume uttered
"where are you going natsume?" ruka asked which was too late, because natsume was already nowhere to be found
"i bet he's going to the forbidden shop, being the black cat that he is, he has access to certain shops that we normal students can't"
"ofcourse,I don't expect less of that from him. After all, natsume is always cool like that" ended Kokoro.
Plums shop
Natsume went to the underground pavement, a secret passage that only the dangerous class has knowledge about He went to the rare plums shop. Its a shop where the rarest of items are sold off.
"oii! look whos here! Its the black cat, we have lots of new stocks!" Mamura said- the old shop keeper
natsume continued to browse on the items as if he heard none.
"still prefers to watch through huh? well go ahead!"
natsume was ready to call it a day when a shiny hexagon stone caught his attention
"whats this?"
"let me see, hm good taste as always, this is the wishing stone"
"wishing stone?"
"well technically yes, this is a one of a kind alice stone, its for teleportation. you could wish to go to any place, any place! no barrier could detect you the only offset is that, its just a one way ticket, and once u use it you can never use it again. legend has it that it was created by Niaguru itself!"
(niaguru is known for his teleportation alice, he is considered as the most powerful when it comes to teleportation)
"so whats so special with this?"
"well you could go anywhere with this thing, for all we know you could go to heaven if you wish to!" mamuru then let out a laugh
"niagaru made that when his wife died, he said he's gonna do everything he could to be with her. It appeared though that what he needs is not teleportation,
but a good ol tap from death"
"he died 2 years after he said that line, and when his body got found, that stone was on his hand"
"ill take this, how much?"
"3000 rabbits"
"ok"
natsume then dropped the money on the counter and left .
-at school-
Its already 8:00 pm and the gang decided to go back to the academy. Everyone was exhausted and happy with their random adventure. The girls bought some howalon for Mikan to chomp and the boys were full with their mangas. They were entering through the door when class president ran towards them.
"guys! mikan... mikan hasn't come home yet"
_back garden_
The rain already stopped when Mikan decided to find the way back
"I can't just stay here and do nothing, I won't be the dissappointment that everyone is expecting me to be!"
Mikan stood up when she suddenly felt dizzy, "whats wrong with me?"
she grasped the pillar but her body was too weak. which made her fall hard to the ground. "what?.."
she ended up lying down the cold marble ground, she felt something warm on her head, she reached through it and felt something wet. she then looked at her hand and "blood" she sighed. she was too weak to even react. "Am I going to die..here?" "how can i be so careless" mikan gave a weak laugh as she pondered at how stupid she can be. She was dozing back off to sleep when she suddenly felt something cupping her face, she effortly opened her eyes.
"natsume" she exclaimed, while letting out a small smile and a tear .
"what do you mean she's not home yet?Its already late!"
"i know, jinno let her clean the backgarden as a punishment, and the thing about the backgarden is that it gets lost after 8pm and wont be back by 5 am"-
class president worriedly explained
"the teachers are already sending a search party for her, but I heard that the chances of finding her are close to impossible . They also can't adjust the barrier strength because it could threaten the entire school's safety. I hate to say this but the best thing that we could hope right now is that Mikan-chan's safe "
Silence overcame the room while the rain was heavily pounding on the windows.
"polka dot .. troublesome as ever" natsume exclaimed, breaking the glass of silence
" I don't get why the entire school's bugged by her disappearance. She's a trouble since she got here right, What do you guys expect?
Im pretty sure she'll get back, like a weed that never dies"
everyone was startled by luna's comment, Hotaru was about to say something to luna when Natsume said something first
" weed huh, funny how a weed is better than you in every way, funny how she's better than everyone else in every way. How about you zip your mouth,
Your opinions are a total garbage, they're not worth the effort you put into using your muscles" and with that natsume left the room.
Back Gardens
mikan regained her conciousness, she had this funny dream that natsume was with her in the gazebo. she slowly got up and touched her head. "thank god its not bleeding anymore" she was still slowly rumming through her hair when she noticed a coat wrapped around her body. "huh?" Mikan was looking at the coat when a familiar voice brought her back. "so you're awake strawberry print"
Mikan turned her head and saw natsume standing. he was holding some grass and his eyes had their same expression as always.
Mikan stood up, not caring if she'll fall or not, "oi say something, did you lose your brain entirely with that fall?" natsume said
mikan said nothing, she just ran towards natsume and wrapped her arms around his neck . she buried her head into his chest, her tears just went berserk- And she didnt care.
natsume then wrapped his left arm around her waist, his right hand gently cupping her head "talk stupid, you made me go all the way here and all I get is a knotted tongue. I bet your head is as empty as ever with all the blood that you lost."
"natsume why are you here, how'd you find me?" words that mikan barely formed through her sobs. " I thought that no one's looking for me... I was trying to find a way to go out from here, but inside I was hoping that someone would find me" mikan then loosened up her hold "I dont really know why Im talking like this all of a sudden, probably your right, I think my head has gone empty" mikan smiled and raised her head to look at nastume. " A head wound and another punishment waiting for punishment.
everything has gone ugly today, but at the end of it all. Im still so happy. because you're here... with me"
to be continued